Three people were killed in a shooting at a factory in Switzerland today.

The victims - including the gunman - died in the cafeteria of a factory near the city of Lucerne this morning.

Seven others were injured in the incident at wood processing company Kronospan in the town of Menznau at 9am local time.

Emergency services flew four of the seriously injured to hospital by helicopter.

The shooting was said to have occurred after the factory announced it was making job cuts.

A local resident said: “My son told me that he was at mid-morning snack in the cafeteria, when someone opened fire.”

Last month, a gunman killed three women and wounded two men in the Swiss village of Daillon, stirring a debate about Switzerland’s fire arms laws that allow its male citizens to retain guns after their mandatory military service.

There is no national gun register but some estimates indicate that at least one in every three of Switzerland’s 8 million inhabitants keeps a gun, many stored at home.